“Take a step back, ladies.”

He grabbed – well, he didn’t really physically grab, more so redirecting mid-air – the green crystal hovering around him and placed it smoothly inside the locket.

The crystal’s light started intensifying over time, as the grooves in the wood seemingly started glowing with the same green, quickly dashing over towards the edges of the door. When more or less all the grooves were glowing green, the vines started disconnecting from the walls, ceiling and floor, and slowly retracted back to the center. The door flung open before us.

“Welcome ladies.” He made a welcoming gesture, as to invite us in. “To the Library of Infinite Knowledge!”

“What…? That’s it?” I tried my best to not chortle at it, but it got the better of me, and Valentina seemed to be having trouble keeping her high pitches to herself too.

Can I even be blamed for reacting like that? I was promised a Library of Infinite Knowledge, but when I looked through that door I only saw a medium-sized room with three of the walls being covered with bookcases and one pillar in the center of the room. The floor was plain wood with glass around the center pillar, and I couldn’t even see the ceiling from where I was standing. Even we Khaei had bigger libraries than that, and even though most of us might be arrogant, we didn’t even dare to say we have “infinite knowledge”.

“Just you wait until you step inside.” He surprisingly wasn’t irritated by my mockery. In fact, he sounded quite smug, “You’ll get a chance to eat your words.”

And I don’t like to admit it, but eat my words I did…

Stepping through the door revealed the full scale of the library; it wasn’t so much roomy as it was high… And by the Gods, was it high…

“Dear Gods…” My invisible jaw just dropped straight to the ground.

The ceiling revealed itself to be… well, it didn’t reveal itself at all, actually. Looking up just left us staring at layers upon layers of glass floors leading up into a darkness above. Each floor above us was laid out as the one we were currently on. The same was true for looking down through the glass in the wood. It was books and books and even more books with no visible end to them. It was frankly breath-taking, unbelievable… to such an extent I thought there was some cheap trick going on, or maybe the majority of the books were just empty; a decorative cover.

“I am, uh… I’m sorry, sir… I didn’t…”

He laughed it off, “Don’t worry, Kate. Nobody believes it unless they see it with their own eyes. Now, I request you to go search for what you need; your time is ticking already.”

“I can read any book in the library, right? Any at all?”

“Yes, you can. And afterwards you’ll be allowed to take any with you too,” he smiled at us. “Now go! You’re wasting time!”

“Thank you, sir.”

“Oh, Kate, please… Call me Feldir.”

“Right… Thank you, Feldir.” I told him while floating toward the staircase to the left. “Come on, Val. We have quite some books to sift through…”

We started searching through the bookcases on the floor below, and the more we looked for a single book that could be of any use to us, the more my heart started to sink. Most books weren’t even written in any comprehensible language.

We passed titles like Glaksca arx Mirdflonn and Dar’tox Alk-Har; words that didn’t make any sense to me whatsoever. Some covers had very square rune-like scriptures written on them, presumably some ancient language of the Lands, or a dead variant of the Dwarven speech.

And even if the title resembled something just remotely readable, they were about subjects I just didn’t care for at the moment whatsoever, or expanding about concepts I didn’t even know about. Advanced Ethereal Teleportation, Cause and Effect of The Elder Judgement, The Intricate Mortis Transferal of The Obsidian Staff, Grammar and Use of Startalk… The list could keep going for a bit.

It took us about an hour to decide to decide we’d better split up and each tackle a different floor; Valentina would take this one, I the one below.

The floor below was more kind. More basic books started popping up that could possibly be useful. It didn’t take long before I found a bestiary lying around, written in a language I could understand.

It was a strange book. It had information about several creatures, including weakness and strength, and an extensive description accompanied by a very fleshed-out sketch. However, that wasn’t true for all entries. There was this creature called “The Elder Drake”, which had nothing but a vague description and a quick drawing bound to it. There wasn’t even a spot reserved for strength or weakness. About a dozen – maybe even two – other entries followed this example, or at least resembled it.

I figured a bestiary like this would be a useful addition to our journey through the Forgotten Lands, so this would be the book I took from the Library of Forbidden Knowledge.

The hour that had already passed turned into three of them. During the course of these I’d tried to find as much information about Essentia and the use of it, and I discovered some very… interesting things.

Essentia seemed to be divided in two main classes: Primals or Elemental Essentia, and Secondary Essentia.

Elemental Essentia are believed to be created by The Elder – whatever they were – on the dawn of the First Era of the Forgotten Lands. Each of The Elder made one type of Essentia: Fire, Water, Air, Earth. These are the primary sources of Essentia Manipulation.

Secondary Essentia, however, are believed to be created by The Forsaken – not a clue what they were – as the start of the Second Era. These mark the building blocks of life itself.

Bestia, which gave life its physical form; Mortis, the Essentia of death – and maybe ironically also life; Magica, which gave life the ability to interact with other Essentia; Machina, which sets all in motion.

Contrary to how The Elder created their Primals, the Secondary Essentia were created as a group effort; each Forsaken put effort into each Secondary.

Just as I was about to start reading up on a chapter on Mortis and Necromancy, Valentina came flying into the room with a bright yellow color.

“What’s up, Val?” I asked, almost forgetting she wouldn’t really be able to respond. Instead, she just started tugging on my arm. “Fine, fine…”

I put away the book on Essentia, grabbed the bestiary under my arm and followed Val back upstairs. She took me to a corner of the room, to a spot where we could barely catch a glimpse behind the bookcases.

It was a spot where I would’ve assumed silence and darkness to linger, but they didn’t. From out the darkness between the bookcase and wall came a faintly pulsing red light, accompanied by an equally faintly rhythmic thumping sound.

“What is that?”

Needless to say, she blinked red.

“Hmm… Hey Val, do you think you could help me with moving this bookcase?”

She blinked green quickly, before starting to push with her whole might against the back of the bookcase in a bright yellow color. I followed her lead shortly after.

It definitely felt like I did most of the work there…

The light seemed to be coming from an crevice in the wall, almost specifically made to fit it inside. It appeared to be a book, almost like a big lexicon. The cover was brown and felt like it was made of leather, with a silver shine trimming it. The light source was a red crystal in the shape of a heart – a physical heart, not the symbol. I couldn’t quite tell if it was ruby or a Fire Essentia Crystal, but I assumed it to be the former.

I reached behind the bookcase to grab it. A comfortable warmth appeared in my hands as I read the title, written in big, silver letters.

“THE BOOK OF LOVE”

And that was all on the front. A crystal heart and a title. No author. No catchphrase nor publisher. Just that. Valentina’s gray seeped with the same confusion as I had.

I turned the book around, hoping to get a better grasp of what it was about by reading the backside, but that left me equally disappointed. The only thing on there was a short text which told me just about nothing about the contents.

“THE BOOK OF LOVE is lengthy, mundane,
and written many an Era ago.
It is filled with charts nor figures,
with things none are old enough to know.”

“What’s this…?” I asked nobody in specific, but Valentina responded with a red regardless. “Do you think I should… open it?”

Her color shifted from the gray instantly to a yellow one.

“I’ll take that as a ‘yes’ then.”

I opened the book carefully. Seeing how it was written “many an Era ago”, I’d assume the pages would be very fragile; I didn’t want to tear any.

The first page was a blank. No obligatory repetition of the title or any mention of the author again. I figured maybe the book was too old to have that convention yet, so I flipped the page again, only to be faced with a second blank one.

And then the third was too, and the fourth…

At this point I started flipping through the pages like a madman (madwoman? Mad…Subject?) only to see that every page was empty. Every. Single. One.

My confusion made place for anger. I felt like I got cheated out of something, like I just got scammed.

I looked over at Val. Her color was red now, but not a mad or angry red. She was anxiously shuffling around in mid-air, with some high-pitched sounds escaping her. Almost like she was blushing… It was actually kind of adorable.

“This isn’t a ‘Book of Love’… This is a massive disappointment!” I closed the book shut, which incidentally made Valentina sound with relief as she turned slowly purple again. “There’s bound to be more to this!”

I grabbed the book and made my way up the stairs, Valentina slowly following. If anyone knew more about it, it’d be Feldir for sure.

“Back already, ladies?” he smiled when he saw us coming, “Have you found what you were looking for already?”

“Not entirely… we have a question about this book…”

“I can’t promise you an answer, but I’ll try. What book is this about?”

He must’ve noticed I was holding The Book of Love in my hand by now, since the expression on his face changed drastically.

“Aha… I see…” he said. “The Book of Love…”

“What’s the deal with it? Every single page is empty; not even a single character! I checked the backside and…”

“Oh no,” he laughed. “The backside doesn’t tell you anything about the book, Kate.”

“Well yeah, I figured…” I said that slightly more passive-aggressive than I wanted, so much so that it caused Val to have a mild hue shift to a soft blue.

“The Book of Love is a dangerous tool. It shows true love to whomever reads it, and only to them. It’s unique for each person, and adjusted to their personality. It seeps with power.”

But mine was empty…

“Prove it.” I didn’t believe it (or – perhaps more accurately – I didn’t want to believe it). “Read me your entry.”

“If I must…” he opened the Book somewhere near the end. “Mine is a poem titled Isn’t it a blessing?.” He cleared his throat.

“Oh, isn’t it a blessing
to have an everlasting life?
No more worrying ‘bout dying
and your knowledge that will thrive.

You have an infinity of time
to think about your wills and deeds.
No more worrying ‘bout the morrow,
no more the worries will succeed.

But will you truly become happy
with an eternity of time?
Ladders of age they’ll fall off,
on which you’ll be forced to climb.

So in the end it’s but a curse
to have an everlasting life.
Because none will live beside you
for they will die, as will your wife.”

“I’m… I’m sorry, Feldir… I shouldn’t have asked.”

“You had all reason to.” His voice was empty, almost distant. “The Book of Love doesn’t do mercy. It only does painful truth.”

“But… how does it predict…?”

“We don’t know how exactly, but we know it’s bound to the divine powers of the Elder within the material of the pages. And before you ask: why exactly the Elder made the Book to begin with, is beyond us.”

I was still puzzled with questions, but before I could even ask any of them, Feldir asked if we’d found which books we would bring.

“I have. Have you, Valentina?”

Red blink.

“You don’t…?” I hummed for a bit, after which I turned to Feldir, saying, “Excuse us for a minute.”

We floated away to a corner of the room to discuss our game plane. I had an idea.

“Val, you should take The Book of Love with you.”

I hadn’t seen her flash with red that rapidly ever before.

“Didn’t you hear what he said, Val? Divine Elder powers. If we find a way to use it right, we might be able to fend off beasts. No offense, but we’re completely powerless without this. It’s vital for us to defend ourselves.”

The flashing slowed down to a stop, and the red faded to a purple. She was jittering around softly.

“Adding to that… if we can get creatures to read their entry in The Book of Love for us, we’d get a far better vision of who they are as a person and how to handle them. There’s no negatives!”

She let out a lower pitched sound than normally, something almost like a sigh, as she blinked a faint green. It wasn’t very convincing, but it was an agreement nonetheless. That was all I needed to return to Feldir.

“We’ve made up our minds.”

“You have? Well, friends, which books will it be?”

I showed him the bestiary.

“A wise choice, indeed!” he responded. “I’m sure this will come in handy! Maybe you could even fill in the blank spots yourself!” He gave that last remark a quick laugh.

“And the second book…?”

“That would be The Book of Love.”

His face took an expression of surprise or shock, followed by a quick gasp.

“I’m sorry, Kate. I’m afraid I can’t allow that.”

“But the agreemen–”

“I know what we agreed, but the Book is an exception.”

“Why?”

“The Book of Love is an artifact that holds incredible power, more than you could even begin to imagine. Everyone who knows of it would be willing to start an entire genocide just to get their hands on it. Keeping the Book with you is the same signing your own death warrant.”

“Feldir, you wouldn’t want the Book to fall into the wrong hands, would you?”

“I absolutely wouldn’t.”

“Then we will make sure of that. We will keep The Book of Love safe.”

An extremely mocking laughter emerged from him.

“You are in no shape to defend yourself. Until an hour ago you didn’t even know what Essentia was, less so how to manipulate it!”

“I’ve done my research. Besides, the Book’s power will he–”

I was interrupted by a loud wailing sound of something like an alarm, while some Essentia Crystals that functioned as lights around the library, started flashing black.

Feldir’s eyes widened, and he started running to one of the desks anxiously.

“Fine, have it your way,” he quickly responded. “We don’t have time for this anymore.”

“What’s going on?”

“It’s code black, Kate. We need to head to the Capital as soon as possible.”

“Code black?” I echoed him, “What is–”

“The King under The Mountain has been found dead. Assassinated, presumably.”

Valentina jousted backwards while turning into a bright blue color while he made a hand gesture to make a wooden square in the ground raise up with two circles on it. One outer and one inner. It seemed to be a simplified version of the construct we used to get into the Mountain. “Hop in.”